Liverpool ocean vet dies while diving for a lobster pot in Bermuda

Liverpool vet Dr Neil Burnie who died in Bermuda after getting into difficulty while diving at Horseshoe Bay Beach on 11/11/2014

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A Liverpool vet who was on the cusp of launching his television career died after getting into difficulty diving in Bermuda.

Dr Neil Burnie was well known for his research on marine species and was the host of a show called Ocean Vet which was being considered by several TV networks.

He died last Tuesday after getting into difficulties while diving at Horseshoe Bay Beach shortly after 11am.

It is understood that Dr Burnie was attempting to retrieve a lobster pot. When he failed to return to the surface, a diver went down and found him unconscious at the bottom.

The sixty-year-old was taken by ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly before noon, according to local paper, The Royal Gazette.

Dr Burnie, from Liverpool, had moved to Bermuda more than 20 years ago and was employed as a government veterinarian before working for Endsmeet Animal Hospital as a senior partner.

He was also a keen musician and performed in a band called Bones.

He was said to have a passion for water. He was passionate about protecting marine life and had even set records on high-speed powerboats.

Spectacular footage of Dr Burnie interacting with local marine species, including tiger sharks, was to be included in the new TV show dubbed Ocean Vet which recently completed production and was due to air next year.

Dr Burnie said that the point of close-up, personal shots of sharks with humans was to ultimately to change people’s perceptions of them.

“We want to abolish the myth of them as mindless predators and get rid of this idea that the only good shark is a dead shark,” he said during filming. “They’re worthy of respect, as any major predator is.”

In 2002, Dr Burnie skippered the catamaran Prowler to a record crossing from New York to Bermuda.

It took 22hr 23min and stood unbroken for ten years, before being bettered by 44 minutes by Chris Vertig, an American from Virginia Beach.

Dr Burnie hosted “Ocean Vet”, along with Choy Aming, the co-founder of his Bermuda Shark Project.

British production company gassProductions had just finished filming the series, which is in the process of being considered by multiple TV networks.

The show explores Bermuda’s marine environment while highlighting environmental issues and finding solutions to the problems.

Dr Ian Walker, the principal curator at the Bermuda Zoological Society, said: “I was shocked and saddened to hear about Neil’s tragic death.

“Neil had a zest for life that was unparalleled and he lived life to full.”